MATH 1 UNIFORM MOTION WORD PROBLEMS
1) Two cars A and B, having average speeds of 30 and 40 mph respectively, are 280 miles apart. They
start moving toward each other at 3 PM. At what time and where will they meet?
2) Two motorists start travelling toward each other at 4:30 PM from towns 255 miles apart. If their
respective average speeds are 40 and 45 mph, at what time will they meet?
3) Two planes start from Chicago at the same time and fly in opposite directions, one averaging a speed
of 40 mph greater than the other. If they are 2000 miles apart after 5 hours, find their average speeds.
4) John Lloyd and Sarah start from a given point and travel on a straight road at average speeds of 30
and 50 mph respectively. If Sarah starts 3 hours after John Lloyd, find (a) the time, and (b) the
distance they travel before meeting.
5) At what rate must Richard travel to overtake KC who is traveling at a rate 20 mph slower if Richard
starts 2 hours after KC and wishes to overtake KC in 4 hours?
6) Pearl and Onyx enter the Pisay Fun Run. Pearl runs at 8 mph and Onyx at 6 mph. If they start
together, how long will it take before Pearl is one-fourth mile ahead of Onyx?
7) Brad starts from his house at 2:00 PM and travels to his office at an average speed of 30 mph. After
resting in his office for 1 hour, he returns over the same route at an average speed of 40 mph and
arrives in his house that evening at 6:30 PM. Determine the distance between his house and his office.
8) Tom travelled a distance of 265 miles. He drove at 40 mph during the first part of the trip and at 35
mph during the remaining part. If he made the trip in 7 hours, how long did he travel at 40 mph?
9) A car travelling at 50 kph took 50 minutes longer to make a trip than another car at 60 kph travelling
the same distance. How long did the faster car take to make one trip?
10) Angelina drove 30 miles to work each day and picked a friend on the way. If she was able to average
40 mph on the trip, and drove 15 minutes longer with the friend than without him, how far did
Angelina live from her friend’s house?
11) A boat can move at 8 miles per hour in still water. If it can travel 20 mi downstream in the same time
it can travel 12 mi upstream, determine the stream’s rate.
12) A boat, propelled to move at 25 mph in still water, travels 4.2 mi against the river current in the same
time it can travel 5.8 mi with the current. Find the speed of the current.
13) The speed of a plane is 120 mph in a calm. With the wind, it can cover a certain distance in 4 hours,
but against the wind, it can cover only three-fifths of that distance in the same time. Find the velocity
of the wind.
14) In 5 hours of flying, a passenger plane is helped by a tail-wind of 50 kph. In the succeeding three
hours though, it was slowed down by a 50 kph wind travelling in the opposite direction. If the total
distance travelled is 2,500 km, how fast is the plane?
15) Sam and Anne can run around a circular mile in 6 and 10 minutes, respectively. If they start at the
same instant from the same place, in how many minutes will they pass each other if they run around
the track (a) in the same direction? (b) in opposite directions?.